GAC Reaches 30 Million Vehicle Milestone, Bets on New Energy and Global Expansion in Second Half

July 16, GAC Group held the delivery ceremony of its 30-millionth vehicle and a thank-you event for 30 million users at the GAC Trumpchi factory in Panyu, Guangzhou. Chairman Feng Xingya handed over the keys of a right-hand drive GAC Trumpchi M8 PHEV to Thai action star Tony Jaa, making GAC the fifth domestic automaker to cross the 30-million vehicle threshold, taking 29 years.

The structure of 30 million is worth analyzing: GAC took 20 years from 0 to 10 million, and only 9 years from 10 million to 30 million. Increment mainly came from joint venture (GAC Honda, GAC Toyota) baseline and independent brand (Trumpchi, AION, Hyper) volume increase. The last 5 vehicles at the event countdown were GAC Honda P7, GAC Toyota bZ7, Qijing GT7, AION N60, Hyper S600, all were new energy or intelligent models. The 30-millionth vehicle was deliberately chosen as a right-hand drive plug-in hybrid MPV, pointing to right-hand drive markets like Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

H1 data is the solid support behind the ceremony: Group sales 773,100 units, up 2.35% YoY; New energy vehicle sales up 68.8% YoY; Overseas exports exceeded 120,000 units, up 132% YoY, among which independent brand exports were 121,500 units. Under the dual pressure of industry price wars and joint venture decline, GAC used three curves "Independent + New Energy + Going Global" to offset the slowdown of traditional fuel vehicles.

Feng Xingya reiterated, "Quality is the bottom line GAC will never yield." On site, listed Demon Shell Battery (cumulative installation 1.5 million vehicles, driving over 160 billion kilometers), Star Spirit Security System, AION Lighthouse Factory, "Five Highs, One Mountain, One Dust" validation and other system capabilities, and announced from now until August 31, launch "Renewal Gratitude Season", six brands around new purchase, trade-in, additional purchase promote subsidy policies. Channel plans to add 1000 county-level stores within the year, "Super Butler" promises 5-second response, 2-hour completion, energy supply network "9 Vertical, 10 Horizontal" has covered 213 cities, self-operated piles over 27,000.

On the technology side, GAC bets on Star Source Power (Extended Range/Plug-in Hybrid/Super Dual Engine), all-solid-state battery pilot line, Quark Electric Drive (highest efficiency breaks 99%), Star Spirit Architecture and Galaxy Smart Cockpit, cumulative R&D investment over 62 billion yuan, R&D team over 6,800 people. Intelligent driving and ecosystem cooperation bound with Huawei, CATL, Tencent, etc., will become the key variable for its shift from "Vehicle Manufacturing" to "Ecosystem Tech Company".

30 million is the period mark of scale, and also the starting point of transformation. GAC's next challenge is not to sell 30 million and one car, but how to let independent new energy and globalization truly hold the baseline after the joint venture dividend recedes.